Originally Posted By mawnck Hi all. I can already predict that there will not be a Mawnckscars for 2014, me having blown off three animated features already. My main emotion regarding this is STILL only thankfulness that I didn't have to go see "The Nut Job". Take that as you will. If I catch any that you just gotta check out, I will say something at that time, rather than waiting until Christmas. However, I did go see a program of all the 2013 Best Animated Shorts nominees a couple nights ago. So here's the scoop on them. I'm presenting them in countdown form, from my least fave to my most fave, but deciding from these five is ludicrous, because they're all so very different. And the Academy is going to give it to "Get a Horse" regardless. Actually, this category is SO unpredictable that even this prediction may prove to be wrong. (They gave it to LOGORAMA, for crying out loud!) But I'm predicting "Get a Horse" anyway, even though I'm not particularly happy about it, as you'll soon see. 5. Feral Creepy-artsy-sketchy piece about a wild jungle kid who gets dragged back to the human world and fails to assimilate. It's so artsy that it loses the plot, literally, toward the end, leaving a rather oblique and unsatisfying ending. It sure looks cool, and it's the only hand-drawn flick on the docket, but the first 2/3 are conventional wolf-boy-in-the-city and the last 1/3 is just "huh?" <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://vimeo.com/ondemand/feral/66356782">http://vimeo.com/ondemand/feral/66356782</a> (Trailer is free. To see the short you have to fork over a nominal fee - but it's the only one available in its entirety online at the moment.) 4. Get a Horse I've groused about this one elsewhere, and the 3rd viewing, in 2D this time, hasn't changed my mind one whit. Too frantic, too loud, poorly timed, doesn't read, and does a puzzlingly lousy job of faking the look and sound of a late 1920s Disney cartoon, even before the CGI gets started. Ignoring all that, which I can't, it's pretty inventive. (No link. Besides, if you haven't gone to see "Frozen" yet, then you don't deserve to see this either.) 3. Mr. Hublot Pure Oscar-bait, as an obsessive-compulsive clockwork man in a clockwork world (which is clockwork just because they wanted to do an animated short in clockwork) adopts a stray clockwork dog who then grows to enormous size and wrecks the guy's house. Nothing really wrong with this one, except that I felt I was being pandered to just a bit. And, "Robots". <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://mrhublot.zeilt.com/homepage.htm">http://mrhublot.zeilt.com/homepage.htm</a> 2. Room on the Broom The "Gruffalo" people return yet again with yet another gentle, heartwarming, charming, clever, rather slow-moving half hour based on a sweet children's book. The witch has a broom and a cat, and she keeps picking up hitchhiking animals, much to the cat's annoyance, while all the time a hungry dragon is sneaking up on them. This one moves into the #2 slot thanks to the excellent characterization and interactions. It sure ain't for the Shakespearean poetry. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://roomonthebroom.com">http://roomonthebroom.com</a> 1. Possessions Japanese hand-drawn-ish CGI film. A peddler ducks into a ruined temple during a storm, where he is confronted with the spirits of worn and discarded household items. After a slow start, this film gets all visually spectacular and stays that way, and the folk-tale-ish story is unpredictable and intriguing. I will be a happy Mawnck indeed if this wins. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.image.net/possessions">http://www.image.net/possessions</a> The animated shorts package (with a couple extras thrown in that are well worth seeing, plus that dang Pixar umbrella thing again) is playing at arthouses around the country right now, so check local listings. Or you can wait for 'em to cough the whole set up in the iTunes store, which I understand is the eventual plan. The theatrical package also includes bridging segments featuring a CGI giraffe and ostrich gossiping about famous animated characters, which you might find hilarious if you like Seth MacFarlane-type humor. (I don't and didn't.) At least they're short.
Originally Posted By u k fan Thanks for the rundown. Possessions sounds really interesting and just my sort of thing. I'll also be surprised if Get a Horse doesn't win on the day!!!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Thanks for this! I've only seen Get a Horse (hopefully I can watch some of the others over the weekend), and I completely agree with your assessment. Clever concept, but it just wasn't executed especially well. The 'old' animation isn't remotely convincing, and it's paced more like the condensed-to-the-point-of-not-making-sense Have A Laugh shorts than anything that is actually considered a classic
Originally Posted By mawnck This category is weird, weird, weird. Congrats to "Mr. Hublot"! (And that Disney movie with the annoying snowman.)
Originally Posted By mawnck If you hurry, you can watch this totally unauthorized, rather poor quality copy of "Mr. Hublot" on YouTube before they catch it and take it down: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT3C2kdMHOs">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...C2kdMHOs</a> What'd I tell you? Oscar-bait.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox The predictability of the Oscars is getting tiresome. Just once I'd like a surprise or two, to keep things fresh.
Originally Posted By mawnck Oh, Mr Hublot was QUITE a surprise. Unless somebody badly misspelled "Get a Horse" on that card.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox I didn't think it was a surprise, given your description of "Oscar bait." So many scripts, performances, etc, are specifically tailored to catch the eyes of Academy members. This was one such film. Possessions would have been the surprise, along with C&E for the feature. Frozen is right up Oscar's alley. Not a surprise at all. Stuff like Mr Hublot is exactly what I expect the Academy to vote on now: painfully tailored pseudo avant-garde. Perhaps the real edgy stuff will get a nod someday.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Just watched 'Mr Hublot' Yeah. Interesting look, although it reminds me of that metal world used in that prescription drug commercials. The punch line at the end was just 'eh' 'Get a Horse' is just super-annoying though
Originally Posted By u k fan Thanks for the link Mawnck. Yeah, it was ok, but that's about it. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think Mr. Hublot was very well introduced/explained as I didn't notice the OCD thing until he was trying to leave the apartment. Up until then I just thought he was set in his ways, as comes from living alone. I also thought the payoff was a bit "meh". I do applaud the filmmakers' ability to create a fun cohesive world for their characters to inhabit. That was well done!!!
